"Ha! Ha!" On the outskirts of Kuoh City, two figures streaked across the twilight horizon in a desperate chase.
In front sprinted a petite silver-haired girl with shoulder-length hair and a doll-like face—none other than one of Rias Gremory's peerage, Koneko Toujou.
Each of her leaps sliced cleanly through the air, swift and graceful.
"Hey, you filthy demon! You think you can outrun the great Freed?!" The man chasing her wore priest's robes, had wild silver hair, and a twisted grin stretched across his face. "Why don't you just lie down and die like a good little monster?"
Koneko glanced back at him, her lips tightening.
She'd come out here to cleanse the area of cursed spirits after sensing a dangerous concentration of dark energy nearby. The battle had drained most of her magical reserves—and before she could recover, she'd run into this lunatic.
"You're with the Church, aren't you? Attacking me unprovoked—does the Church want a war?" Her voice was flat, emotionless, as she kept up her retreat.
"So what if it does?" Freed sneered, his grin turning savage.
"I'm a rogue exorcist, sweetheart! And the moment I see scum like you, my mission is clear—eradication!"
With that, he accelerated, and the distance between them rapidly shrank.
Koneko said nothing more. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her legs growing heavier with every step.
Her magic was nearly gone.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he caught up.
She'd tried teleporting earlier, but this bastard clearly had experience fighting devils—he hadn't given her a single opening.
Call for backup? Out here on the edge of town, there was no cell signal.
Her only option was to push herself, to try and make it to the city limits.
But just then—her foot caught.
She stumbled.
Her magic was depleted. Her body felt sluggish, unresponsive.
No…
"Oh-ho, looks like the little devil can't run anymore, huh?" Freed cackled, pulling something from under his robes.
It was the hilt of a sword.
Shing!
A glowing blade shot out from the handle, coated in pure holy energy.
"Is this… where I die?" Koneko thought, frozen in place, the searing intent of death pressing down on her back.
Crack!
A flash of lightning lit up the night.
Thud!
The next thing she knew, she'd collided face-first with a warm chest.
That scent… so familiar.
Blinking, Koneko looked up.
A pair of crimson eyes gazed calmly down at her.
"K-Kai! Watch out! He's an exorcist!" she gasped, and then, as if all the strength had left her, she slumped in his arms.
"Figures," Kai murmured, immediately understanding the situation. He held her steady with one arm, keeping her from collapsing.
Koneko flushed slightly. "Put me down… I can't fight like this."
"Don't worry. I've got it."
"…Huh?"
She blinked again, a little dazed.
Since when was Kai this confident?
Freed's eyes narrowed as he took in Kai's appearance, a twitch starting in one corner of his mouth. "Another one?! That aura… you're a devil too, aren't you?"
Then, suddenly, his twisted grin returned. "Fantastic! It's a sign from God himself—two devils in one day! What a blessing!"
He lunged.
Whoosh!
The blade of holy light whistled through the air, slicing toward them with deadly force.
The pressure hit like ice.
A sharp wind ripped through the dirt road.
The glowing sword slashed downward—aimed straight at Kai's head.
"Watch out!" Koneko shouted, struggling to move—but her body wouldn't respond.
All she could do was watch, helpless, as the sword descended.
But the brutal strike never landed.
Clang!
A clear, ringing sound split the air.
Freed's holy sword had stopped—frozen mid-swing.
Kai had caught it with one hand.
Vmmm!
The blade shuddered, waves of holy energy pulsing violently, trying to carve through Kai's fingers. But they didn't move. Not even a little.
"What the hell…" Koneko whispered, eyes wide with disbelief.
This was holy light—divine energy. It was supposed to be fatal to devils like them.
Yet Kai had stopped it. With one hand.
"That's impossible!" Freed snarled, panic creeping into his voice.
But Kai barely glanced at him. "As I thought… holy light like this doesn't work on me anymore."
His voice was calm, almost distracted.
Though still technically a devil, Kai's body had undergone a complete transformation through the use of Origin Magic.
The result?
He was no longer vulnerable to light-based attacks.
To him, holy energy was just another kind of elemental magic.
"A-A monster…" Freed yanked at his sword, trying to pull it free—but it didn't budge.
Kai stared at him, unmoved.
Then Freed made a snap decision and leapt back.
"Trying to run?" Kai raised his free hand, still cradling Koneko in the other.
Whirr!
A glowing magic circle opened high in the sky.
Thunder cracked.
The heavens trembled.
Then—
Boom!
A massive bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky.
It was divine in scale, cataclysmic in force.
A roaring storm condensed into one single strike.
"What the hell kind of magic is this?!" Freed froze, every fiber of his body screaming in terror.
He didn't have time to move.
The lightning swallowed him whole.
CRACK! CRACK!
The ground split apart. The trees splintered into ash.
When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a charred crater and a blackened corpse.
"Wh… what…" Koneko stared in shock, her usual stoicism shattered.
Her eyes trembled, locked on Kai's back.
This was Kai?
How…? When had he become this powerful?
The force of that lightning spell—it was beyond anything she'd ever seen.
Even Akeno-senpai's magic didn't compare.
But Akeno was a high-ranking devil, her spells said to rival the power of a Devil King.
So how could Kai—
Bonk!
Kai flicked her gently on the forehead with a small smile. "Don't overthink it."
He knew what she was wondering.
But if she ever found out he was wielding Origin Magic, a force far superior to anything she'd just witnessed—well, she'd be really surprised then.